Need help developing a media player in c++ (need to play MKV)

[blaisemcrowly]

Hi guys
I been programming in c++ for past 2 years and is fairly good with it.
First of all I dont need the code or anything but need some resources which i can use
to get the basic idea so I can start developing. Had been googling for the past few hours
nothing much turned up on this topic especially because I am working on Linux environment
and not need to buold this from the scratch than using and api. Need a few resources that
can explain which libraries to use, how to buffer and use a codec and then put it on screen.

What I am trying to do is create a simple media player, need to just play the file passed.
The format for which i am trying to make compatible is MKV.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[tkud]

You can try this: Developing a Media Player using C++

[blaisemcrowly]

You can try this: Developing a Media Player using C++

Thankyou, but that one makes use of the MediaElement API and is for windows.
I need to get this thing working from scratches and also need to be on linux.
:)

[rubberman]

Look at the code for VLC. What you want to do is very complex unless you just want to decode one variety of media. Personally, after 30+ years developing C code, and 20+ years C++, I would not try to do that without resorting to other API's to handle different media types (mpeg1/2 vs mpeg4 vs wmv, vs mkv, etc). You do say your are trying to make an MKV media player. That may be doable since MKV is open source and the specs are not patent-encumbered. Again, review existing open source implementations to help you understand what is needed to be done. I would advice that you go to www.videolan.org (the VLC project site) for sources and help.

[blaisemcrowly]

Yeh i understand that i will need a Library to get the thing done, I tried vlc code, but it's loaded with the code to handle 100s of features the player has, been trying to isolate the code that will buffer the file, decode it with library and put output it.
thanks for the help and will be greateful for any more you guys can give. :)

[rubberman]

Unfortunately, most existing media players are designed to handle many different media types, and can utilize installed codecs to do that. Honestly, I don't know of any media player that is designed to only handle one type of media, such as Mastroika (mkv). Not saying there aren't any, just that I don't know of any...